I put a pound of salmon at 40-45Celsius in a beer cooler for an hour then seared it. It didn’t cook as deeply as I thought and the middle is rawer than rare. I then put it in the freezer and will eat it cold. I don’t suppose it’s that risky to eat it, right?
Probably as risky as sushi. It has not been cooked enough to kill any baddies that might otherwise be there. I cook salmon as gently as possible, but there is always a small risk.
On the other hand, a good-quality butane torch head can be had for about $5-$10, and the butane canisters (which will easily sear 30-50 servings) are $4. It’s (relatively speaking) precise and fairly fast, and makes it easier to get the edges of thick cuts of stuff.
I didn’t get one initially because I didn’t realize how cheap they were, and used a pan instead, but the torch is just plain better.
Note that you’ll still need the pan or some other heatproof surface to torch the meat on. Ask me how I know ™.
Huh… that’s interesting. I haven’t brewed in like 7 years (having kids put a serious damper on it), and I wasn’t aware of that method. I’m set up kind of old-school with a 10 gallon Igloo cooler with a false bottom (a Phil’s Phalse Bottom if you want to be specific). It keeps temperatures well enough over the hour or two of mashing.
It’s also quite easy to get a “good” vacuum seal in a ziplock using the “immersion method.” Put the food more or less centered in the bag, seal it up except for one corner, and immerse it in water from the bottom. This will force the air out the escape hole, which you seal once it’s the only thing above water. It’s easy once you’ve done it a couple times and the vacuum (while not perfect) is way more than good enough to keep the bag from floating (which along with preventing air insulation is really the only reason you’re vacuum sealing in the first place).
Before you spend $75 though (several times the cost of the torch itself), play with your torch settings. I only get the “butane taste” when I’ve got the torch set too “broadly” and therefore have to get the torch too close to the food. From 3-4 inches away with it focussed, the taste disappears.
YOu are a man of many talents!
I have a corned beef brisket going for ~70 hours at 140. Will be ready for dinner tomorrow night. Will see how that one plays out.
So, corned beef after ~70 hours. Very tender. Tasty but caveated below. Had it with 2 3 gram tortillas. One with corned beef and kimchi (I don’t have Sauerkraut), and one with cheddar and mustard.
That said, I haven’t had a corned beef sandwich or other forms of corned beef for at least a decade. I’m just not a huge fan. Too salty and too oily. I’m just not a big meat fan. No matter, it was a worthy experiment in my beer cooler turned sous vide container (youtube have tons of videos. Basically drill a hole in a cooler, fill with water, insert the sous vide heater of choice.) and the supermarket prolly made a mistake by marking it down to $3.99.
I’ve got a pork shoulder in the freezer that I’m trying next and will update
I think sous vide steak is the BOM.
After a quick read, and I apologize if it has been previously mentioned, but another use is reheating…
Costco sells leg and thigh quarters from rotisserie chickens - 8 each for about $5. I take those, put in FoodSavers, and freeze. Come the day I don’t have anything to cook, I grab a bag, put in a 150 or so water bath, wait 45 min or so, fix a side dish or 3, and that’s good eatin’ (yeah, dark meat is better, but that’s another thread).
Pork ribs and bags of (frozen and left over) pulled pork also reheat well sous vide. I suspect (but cannot prove) that several other foods can be reheated as well.
I’ve got several frozen food saver bags of cooked rib sections from COSTCO and I’ll try reheating them as you describe rather than the microwave. Thanks for the tip.
Lotta love here for the Anova – I have one too.
I made the 36 hour ribs in the previously linked Serious Eats recipe a couple of weeks ago. People are still talking about them.
Something I do a lot of is boneless skinless chicken breast; it doesn’t get dry and stringy, and since the flavor is sealed in it is very flavorful. I do a big batch in a five gallon bucket and freeze some and just keep some in the refrigerator – since they are pasteurized by the long slow cooking process they keep in the fridge for about three weeks. I reheat them in hot tap water to avoid overcooking before using them in recipes.
I used this recipe for the pots: Sous Vide Chocolate Pot De Creme
I used 4-oz mason jars. It made nine. I probably could have made ten if I’d poured a bit less. They are very dense, almost a ganache consistency. Super smooth. Good but not necessarily my style. Everyone else was really into them. I might try with some rum or brandy next time. Or something without chocolate.
Still haven’t tried egg bites yet.
Tried a 60 hour 8# pork shoulder at 145F. It came out edible but not really pull apart tender. I give up on pork shoulder as this was my 2nd or 3rd try. I did get a replacement steak that came out nicely.
I made egg bites and m reporting as promised. 50/50 by weight eggs and cottage cheese with some salt (about 0.5 weight percent IIRC) blended, jarred, and in the puddle for 25 min at 85 °C. Recipe from seriouseats I think.
You get about enough for a 4 oz mason jar per egg. I didn’t add any meat or anything. Just ate plain or with tomato bits. The texture is nice. I haven’t had the Sbucks ones so can’t compare.
Reheating was best in the bath. I’ve microwaved too but that changed the texture.
You can pop them out of the jar by working a knife around the edge and shaking. Greasing the jar might help too.
145 is not nearly hot enought for pullable pork shoulder. 165-170 would do it.
By the way, Reddit has a great sous vide community:
https://www.reddit.com/r/sousvide/
I’ve used 165 for 72 hours and it was great. I recently compared 165 for 24 hours and couldn’t tell the difference.
A little more dangerous than sushi, actually. You’ve raised the temperature (40 C is about 104 F) above the safe cool temp of 4 C / 40 F so bacterial growth increases. Most harmful bacteria stops growing at 52 C / 125 F and is killed above 55 C / 131 F so for longer cooks you generally want to use a temperature above 131 F to be safe.